


No Way Home

by doctovstrange



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Canonical Character Death, I'm Sorry, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Sad, Sad Ending, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-14 00:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15376314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctovstrange/pseuds/doctovstrange
Summary: There is no way home from Titan. What will Stephen and Tony do?





	No Way Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little note to say that I don't own any of the characters, rights go to Marvel and Disney.
> 
> This is a little bit sad, but I really hope you enjoy reading.

Stephen landed on the ground softly, his mind still whirring with everything the time stone had shown him. His eyes refocused, landing on the man gripping his arm, a worried look sketched across his face.

_Tony._

He looked around, explaining to the group exactly what he’d seen in the fourteen million six hundred and five alternative universes. He watched the hope briefly crossing their faces. Then he watched as it was dashed as he revealed there was only one scenario in which they were all successful.

Out of everyone, including Peter who was merely just a child lost in space, Tony’s reaction was the worst. The man had no emotion on his face, but his eyes shimmered in the Titan light.

Everyone went their separate ways.

Peter Quill and Drax going to see if they could find some way off Titan, knowing that it probably wouldn’t help, but not wanting to think about an alternative if they didn’t make it to Gamora in time.

Mantis taking young Peter by the hand, leading him to sit on a rock away from Tony. Despite the boy’s protests about wanting to stay close to his mentor, she knew that it would be better for everyone if she could keep him calm. She knew what it was like to know nothing of the universe, having Ego as a father had all but suffocated her before the Guardians had rescued her, and she wanted to keep the young boy calm.

Tony walked away, alone.

Stephen watched him go, his heart aching and his head thudding heavily. He knew he couldn’t tell Tony what he’d seen, but he couldn’t let the man give up. He was Earth’s best defender, he couldn’t just… _stop._

He wanted to hold Tony close to him, whisper sweet nothings in his ear like they had done for months before, and tell him that everything would be okay. He knew how they were going to defeat Thanos, but he couldn’t tell anyone, least of all Tony. The devastation it would cause him would ruin everything.

Everything they had together would be gone, whether they won, or they lost. Gone forever.

Stephen didn’t want to think about that though. Not when these where his last moments with the love of his life.

Once Tony sat down on a rock, his head dropping to his hands, Stephen made his decision.

_I need to tell him._

He walked slowly across Titan’s earth, wishing that he had been able to see the planet in all its glory before… Well, before everything, he supposed. Seeing an entire planet destroyed so completely reminded Stephen of home and its future if people continued to treat it the way they did currently.

Standing a few metres behind Tony, he could see that his shoulders were shaking slightly.

 _He’s crying_ Stephen thought to himself, the image catching him completely by surprise. He’d never once seen Tony Stark cry, and they had been seeing each other for three years now.

Although, he supposed, Tony could have more secrets than just their relationship.

Everyone thought that he was still with Pepper, and Stephen could see why. There had been many times in their relationship when he questioned whether Tony was still in love with Pepper, and whether he was just a rebound. He had spoken to her about it once, “of course we’ll always love each other,” she had said, “but too much has happened between us for us to ever be in love again.” She didn’t mind, not really. Not if Tony was happy with someone else who understood him better than she ever could.

That had made Stephen happier than he had been in his life.

And now they were here.

No way home.

Stephen wanted to tell Tony that he would have to give Thanos the stone.

But he couldn’t.

He wanted to tell Tony that Thons would make half of the universe disappear with a snap of his fingers, including himself, and that Tony and Nebula would be left on Titan alone.

But he couldn’t.

He wanted to scream and shout about how much he was in love with the other man, wishing that they had done so while they still could back on Earth, because neither of them had said the ‘L’ word to one another, and now it was probably too late.

Or not, if Stephen had anything to say about the matter.

He kneeled in front of Tony, the other man’s head rising slightly to look at him.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he murmured, hand moving to rest against Tony’s cheek. He smiled sadly when Tony moved his head into the touch, “there is no other way. We have to follow Quill’s plan to the letter and go from there,”

Tony sighed heavily, “I just wish you’d tell me the rest,”

“You know I can’t,” he said, turning Tony’s head so he could look him in the eye, those gorgeous eyes, “I trust you with my heart, and with my life, but you can’t know,”

Holding Stephen’s hand against his face, Tony nodded solemnly, “I wish we had more time together,” Stephen said softly, tears shimmering in his eyes.

“Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye?” Tony asked, his entire body straightening, his face paling suddenly, “please don’t tell me you’re saying goodbye,” tears flooded the man’s eyes, his hand moving to grip Stephen’s cloak tightly in his fist, “please don’t say goodbye”.

The Cloak stroked Tony’s hand softly, channelling Stephen’s need to comfort him.

Against his cheek, Tony could feel Stephen’s hand shaking slightly. Over the past couple of years, his hands had been getting slowly better, his hands only shaking noticeably now when the sorcerer was anxious about something.

There had been many nights where Stephen was awoken from a nightmare by Tony, ones where Tony himself had been lucky enough to not have suffered with his own nightmares, his hands shaking even when Tony held them in his own. On nights like those, Tony would hold the other man close to his chest, listening to his quiet sobs, and telling him everything would be okay.

It was one of these nights when Tony finally realised just how deeply in love with Stephen he was.

That was over a year ago.

“We had to say goodbye sometime, sweetheart,” Stephen murmured, his voice getting caught in his throat for a moment, “we always knew this day would come,”

A single tear left Stephen’s eye, sliding down to rest on his cheekbone. Tony wrapped his hand around the sorcerer’s head, pulling him close so that he could kiss the tear off his face, “don’t cry,” he whispered, his own tears clouding his view slightly, “please,”

Stephen started sobbing, his heart pounding loudly in his chest and his hands shaking almost as badly as they did when he had first gotten out of hospital. He tried to keep quiet, hoping that no one else in the group would disturb their last precious moments together, which was helped when Tony pulled him close enough for him to his face in his shoulder.

Tony kept one of his hands behind Stephen’s head, holding the other man as close as he could as the sobs rocked his entire body, and wiped his own tears away with his other.

“Stephen,” he whispered, hoping to get the man’s attention over the sound of him mourning for something that hadn’t happened yet, “I want to tell you something,” he sighed dejectedly, wishing they had more time, “I should have told you the moment I realised but I didn’t know whether you would ever feel the same,”

Stephen looked up, his face red and blotchy, and snot threatening to drip from his nose, “please don’t, sweetheart,” he sniffed.

“I _need_ to tell you,” Tony muttered, feeling as though his heart was in his mouth at that moment, “how deeply and unconditionally in love I am with you,” he moved his hand to wipe away the tears on Stephen’s face, his thumb rubbing soothingly against the man’s cheekbone, “I have been for over a year,”

“Tony-,”

“I wish I had told you sooner, I do, but I’m a coward when it comes to voicing how I feel,” he laughed to himself for a moment, “Pepper used to tell me that I was very good at buying people’s affections,”

Tony looked Stephen in the eye, “I wish we had told people so that I didn’t have to hide the extent of my affection for you, love. I would have shouted it from the rooftops if I knew that you would love me back,” he coughed slightly, clearing the lump that had formed in his throat, “I know you don’t feel the same-,”

“Whoever told you that I don’t love you back is a fool,” Stephen said, gripping the hand resting on his face tightly, fingers intertwined, “I’ve been in love with you since the moment I crashed my car,” he admitted, the confession causing Tony to flinch slightly.

“I realised, as I was laying waiting for help that might never come, that I was more in love with you than I was with myself, and that’s a difficult task as we both know,” the two of them laughed, resting their foreheads together.

They kissed, knowing that it would be the last time they did so, pouring all their emotions into the others’ mouth. Stephen bit at Tony’s lips, begging him to let him in, to have that one final taste, _please Tony please_ , and once they had run out of air, they pulled away.

This was it. The end game.

“Mister Stark?” Peter called from over Tony’s shoulder, his arms folded across himself, almost as though he was trying to give himself a hug.

Tony turned, the well-known mask back on his face, “hey, kid, what’s up?”

“Mister Stark, I don’t suppose I could talk to you for a second?”

Tony smiled, “sure, kid,” he said, turning back to find Stephen completely composed in front of him, “I love you, Stephen Strange,”

Stephen smiled sadly again, “I love you too, Stark,”

Tony stood his hand leaving Stephen’s face slowly, as though trying to keep the feel of Stephen’s face in his hand.

That was the last time Stephen and Tony would ever touch each other again.

Quill told them his plan again, Stephen giving him his full support, despite Tony’s protests.

Thanos arrived, no Gamora in sight. Mantis managed to subdue him for a minute before Quill’s emotions overtook him completely, repeatedly punching him after finding out that Gamora was, in fact, never coming back. And then the Titan was free again.

Stephen knew it had to play out this way.

During the battle, Thanos threw a blackhole at him, Stephen managing to change it into a swarm of butterflies, what would happen next hanging heavily in his mind.

Tony fought Thanos singlehandedly, proving to everyone that he truly was Earth’s best defender. And then he was stabbed.

The feeling of it stabbing Stephen’s heart.

He wished things didn’t have to be this way.

He gave Thanos the time stone, allowing the Titan to leave for Earth to get the mind stone from Vision, a life that would have to be taken.

He hated every second.

Tony looked at him, disappointment and complete disbelief covering his face, “there was no other way,” Stephen said, knowing that Tony, deep down, knew that he was right.

Then everyone started disappearing.

Drax. Quill. Mantis.

Then it was his turn.

He mouthed once last ‘I love you’ to Tony, before disappearing…


End file.
